Following the conclusion of the league round, former cricketer Simon Doull and wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik selected their respective sides for the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Dinesh Karthik’s team was heavily stacked with spinners, with three different types of spinners making up the starting XI. Babar Azam was chosen as the team’s captain, with only Jasprit Bumrah, an Indian, making the cut.
“Babar Azam, Jos Buttler, Charith Asalanka, Rassie van der Dussen, Shakib al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Wanindu Hasaranga, Adam Zampa, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Afridi. Would have ideally liked Morgan as he has been the best captain for me, but has not done enough as a batter. So, I went for Azam. Van der Dussen is a very clever batsman.” Karthik said
Karthik then went on to explain why he chose a tournament playing XI that was heavy on bowlers.
“The tournament has been dominated by bowlers. So, you can see I have picked 7 proper bowlers. If Australia is in the semi final, a huge hand has to go to Zampa. Afridi has looked class apart from the rest” He added
Three all-rounders make up the team, and they will be responsible for the late middle and lower orders as well.
The playing XI may be missing a real lower-order batsman who can make a difference in the final overs. In terms of bowling, there are two left-arm seamers among the three pacers in the lineup.
Simon Doull then went on to select his best XI from the Super 12s stage of the competition. He used the same top order as Dinesh Karthik, but his team is completely different. Doull went with a middle order that included Aiden Markram, Shoaib Malik, and Asif Ali.
Babar Azam
“Babar Azam, Jos Buttler, Charith Asalanka, Aiden Markram, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Moeen Ali, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Trent Boult and Haris Rauf. Asalanka has been a revelation. No reputation at all, this is purely on tournament merit. Best skipper as far as I’m concerned has been Babar Azam. he said
‘Markram has been impressive, he is an option with the ball as well. Can’t go past Ali and Malik, they’ve won and finsihed games. Needed some raw pace to ruffle feathers and knock some helmets off, and for that I have gone for Haris Rauf.” he added
For both teams, the top three were unanimous. Wanindu Hasaranga, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, Moeen Ali, and Trent Boult have also emerged as common threads between the two squads. Moeen Ali, on the other hand, would be playing a very different role.
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